Background: Domestic consumers with photovoltaic (PV) systems in the UK can benefit financially by time-shifting
their electricity demand to coincide with the output of the PV. This behaviour is a form of demand response and
can provide insights into demand response behaviour more generally. This paper investigates whether people with PV
in the UK engage in demand response, what appliances are used, and whether benefitting from free, self-produced
electricity appears to influence their behaviour.
Methods: To achieve this, the approach presented here consists of an exploratory text analysis of an internet
discussion forum frequented by consumers with PV in the UK.
Results: Data was gathered on 105 forum participants with PV, of which 45 mentioned engaging in demand response,
for example by changing cooking or cleaning practices. Washing machines, dishwashers and electric space and water
heaters were the most commonly used appliances for demand response. Six participants engaged in demand
response and yet received no direct financial benefit from this behaviour, while 14 participants specifically mentioned
the influence of free electricity.
Conclusions: The results illustrate novel demand response behaviour compared to previous studies and indicate that
while price may be an effective initiator for demand response, there are additional factors beyond price that can
enhance responses. The discussion considers the application of these factors to the development of innovative
demand tariffs for low-carbon futures.

Description:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.energsustainsoc.com/content/4/1/13

Sponsor:

This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) [grant number EP/G031681/1]